Where Least Expected
by soralia
Summary: Inuzuka Kiba could not imagine hating someone more than Aburame Shino, but sometimes things bloom where they're least expected. ShinoKiba. Warning, some bad language.
1. Chapter 1

When I was a kid, I hated bugs.

They were gross, or stinky, or they made you itch in places you couldn't scratch. They were sneaky, too, cause the worst ones didn't really have much of a scent and so unless you were looking for them, which I never was, they could sneak right up on you.

I remember the time that one of the dogs got fleas and brought them in the house and they go all over the place, biting everybody. I was a kid then, maybe seven, and a bunch of them got in my bed and bit me all over. I itched for weeks!

Then when I was eight, a stink bug got into the house when I left the back door open. It snuck into mom's room and stunk it all up. Mom kicked my ass for that one. Stupid stink bugs.

Then when I was ten, I got bitten by a big ole spider when our class at the academy went off training in the woods. I was sitting under a tree minding my own business when the damn think fell on me and, chomp! Right on my nose! I smushed it.

That was the first time Aburame Shino ever glared at me. He scared the shit out of me, too. Not to mention the whole bug thing was more than a little creepy. I didn't like him very much.

The next time we were out in the woods, I stomped on a bunch of ants. Those ants hadn't bothered me in any way, but I only did it because I knew Shino was watching. I even ground my heel pretty hard into the dirt to make sure I got every last one of the little bastards. He glared at me again, but this time I only laughed about it. Already I was immune to Shino and his tough guy act.

Eventually, though, I got sick of it. Sure it was entertainment to be found in otherwise boring classes, but Shino never said a word to me about it. What fun was it if he never got upset? Besides, it wasn't long after that that mom gave me Akamaru and after that, most of my focus was spent on him rather than tormenting some anti-social bug freak.

Akamaru turned out to be a big distraction from classes, too, but I figured he was a lot more important than listening to Iruka-sensei ramble on and on. Akamaru and I spent a lot of time sleeping in class; though at least we were smart enough to get decent grades without paying attention all the time. Besides, it was boring! I liked it better when we were outside, anyway.

I used to sneak off from the class sometimes and work with Akamaru. I thought I was pretty damn smart, too, because the way I saw it, Iruka-sensei never noticed. At least, I thought that until the day he sent someone after me.

We were just playing a nice game of fetch; Akamaru never missed a throw, that's how good he was, even when he was just a puppy. I had just thrown a long one to see how fast he could move, but before he could catch up, someone else snagged it out of mid air. Of all people, it had to be Shino. "Oi, I was throwing that for Akamaru!"

Shino ignored me, instead peering down at the stick, examining it carefully before carefully cracking it open to allow some stupid bug to come out and fly off. I wasn't too happy about that. It had taken a long time to find such a good stick! "Tch, you didn't have to break it!"

Finally, Shino looked at me, his brows creased unhappily. "An Academy student is to always listen to his sensei and stay with the class. These are the rules."

"Rules?" I laughed at that. Why should I have to follow the rules when I had more important things to do? "Then why aren't you with the class, eh bug freak?" As always, Akamaru backed me up with a few firm barks. I was already learning that it was good to have backup and I had already started slipping into my habit of confirming everything with Akamaru.

My insult had made him angry, or at least I liked to think so. Really his expression, or what I could see of it, didn't change much at all. There was that constant furrowed brow and not much else. Despite that, his voice was still level, if a little harsh. "I was sent to find you. Iruka-sensei gives such assignments to his obedient students."

Did Shino even know how annoying he was?

"I'm busy out here, bug freak. Me and Akamaru have training to do." Again, Akamaru confirmed this at my side.

"I've been given permission to use force, if you protest. This is your single warning."

Now that was going too far. I didn't like him threatening me like that. "Force, huh? I'd like to see you try it! Me and Akamaru could kick your ass!"

That only prompted the arching of a brow from Shino. And really, when it came right down to it, he was more than a match for me. Shino was one of those genius types, after all, so as it turned out, he ended up carting me back to class with his damn bugs, Akamaru nipping at his heels the whole way. He never hurt either of us, but he did a damn good job of ignoring my noise and Akamaru's yaps. The rest of the class got a pretty good laugh at my expense that day.

Before class was over, I stepped on another ant.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite my multitude of transgressions, I still managed to graduate without being dead last. Thank goodness there were a few bigger dumbasses than me. So at first I was pretty proud of myself. Things were looking up. I was a genin now and feeling pretty badass. At least, I was until they announced teams. Then? Then I was just screwed.

Aburame Shino. My mortal enemy! Now my teammate. Yeah, I was totally screwed.

The first time the team got together was the day after graduation. We'd been sent word from Kurenai-sensei to meet her out in the far training grounds. I decided to make a good first impression and get there early. Plus, I wanted to get there before the bug freak just to show him that I was serious about this. So just to be sure, I got there an hour early and played fetch with Akamaru. It was good exercise for the both of us… a good warm-up for whatever training we had to do.

It wasn't much longer before the bug freak showed up. He didn't say anything, though. He only looked me up and down, brows furrowed, the only indication that he felt any emotion at all. I made a note that I should steal those damn glasses and burry them in the back yard. But at least he had the courtesy to leave me and Akamaru alone and not bug us while we waited.

So things in the training grounds were sufficiently tense when poor Hinata showed up. I'd never really talked to her before, but I had no reason to believe she wasn't a nice kid, so I felt a little bad to have her walk in on a silent war zone. Being more social than lameass Shino over there, I took it upon myself to make her feel welcome, not to mention the fact that Akamaru took to her right away.

I let her throw the stick for him a few times, even, though she really wasn't good enough at it to give Akamaru a real workout. It was still fun for him and it made her a little less nervous. Plus, it gave me a chance to show off how super cool my puppy was!

"Ne, Hinata, throw it up real high. He'll catch it, no problem!"

She was still a little nervous, but complied, making a slightly awkward but sufficiently high toss and Akamaru went for it eagerly. It came as a shock, then, when the stick was intercepted mid-flight by a kunai. "What the hell!"

It was even more of a shock when I turned to find the enemy only to see Shino and Hinata out cold and Akamaru growling towards the bushes. Something was wrong here. How could an attacker sneak up on me and Akamaru? How could they take down two people without me even noticing? It didn't add up. It made me nervous as hell.

Then again, I could at least gloat that they had taken Shino out in one hit with no struggle. I could take them without him. I could smell them now… why I couldn't before never crossed my mind at the time. There were two of them, one in front and one behind. Well, I would show them just what an Inuzuka was made of!

"Looks like we won't have such a boring morning after all, ne Akamaru!" I turned my focus in the direction of the one who'd taken Shino out, figuring him for the stronger of the two. I'd catch him with my speed before he ever knew what hit him. "Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

The familiar feeling of heightened senses washed over me, though it was different this time. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something almost too intense about it. It was as if everything not only became sharper, but almost too sharp to be real. It was overwhelming to a degree that I nearly contemplated abandoning the jutsu all together, but then I reasoned it was probably some trick of theirs to try and weaken me.

Ha! I wasn't falling for that!

As if reading my mind, the enemies made themselves seen. Everything about them was clear and focused, more so than even the ground or the air. It was strange, but no so much that I was willing to let it distract me. So before they could prepare, I charged forward. The more timid one seemed almost paralyzed in fear and the larger had to pull him out of the way. Because of that, I managed to land a blow to his shoulder. The blow wasn't solid enough, though, and put me momentarily off balance.

Despite the allure of taking down the weak one first, something in the back of my mind told me it was a likely distraction. If I focused on that one, the leader would take me down in a second. I had to focus all my energy on him and trust my nose and ears to alert me to any attacks from behind.

The leader wasn't bad at all. Akamaru and I charged a few more times and he was able to dodge well enough, but then I wasn't using my speed to its fullest and neither was Akamaru. I should have noticed, but in my excitement I only saw the chance for attack, never the fact that the guy never once attacked in return. He was dodging. Rather skillfully dodging.

"Time to really get serious, Akamaru!" The answering yap and the feel of him on my back told me he was ready. Already we could practically anticipate what the other would do. "Gijuu Ninpou Juujin Bunshin!" I could feel Akamaru grow heavier so I didn't waste any time with verbal confirmation. The longer I lingered, the more likely it would be that the bastard could counter my speed, so it was only natural to launch into an immediate gatsuuga.

He hadn't been expecting that and though he managed to dodge Akamaru's strike, mine hit him square in the chest and sent us both toppling. I recovered more quickly, though and assaulted him further. Though he managed to dodge the next few gatsuga's, I could tell he was tiring.

The problem was, I was too.

I made the eventual mistake of pausing too long and when I shifted to launch my next attack, I found myself unable to move. I hadn't seen him do anything, but my limbs were pinned firmly against the ground and the more I struggled, the more immobile I became. And yet looking down there was nothing there to hold me.

The method was the least of my worries now, though. The bastard was closing in on me, looming over me with the kind of smug posture that was so characteristic of Shino. In fact… he really did remind me a lot of Shino. There was something about the calm, calculated way he did everything, the way he peered at me with his brows furrowed. It was kind of creepy. To think there were two guys like that in the world!

He leaned over me, shaking his head, to the point where I grew frustrated with his lack of action. "Oi, why don't you quit staring at me and kill me, you dumbass!"

He shook his head, releasing a soft sigh as he lifted his hand to form a seal. "Dispel."

Dispel? What the hell was he…?

It took me a moment to realize where I was and even longer to realize there were no enemies. Just Shino leaning over me without a hint of expression anywhere to be found. "Shino..?" But if that was Shino then…

I must have sounded like an idiot, but I think I yowled like a girl when I discovered exactly what was holding me immobile. Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. My struggles renewed but Shino seemed almost amused by the act of keeping me there

"When they aren't sleeping, Academy students are taught methods to dispel genjutsu."

I hated him so much.

"Oi, I don't need a lecture from you, now call your damn bugs off!" I looked around, trying not to seem too frantic, but I wasn't sure what had happened to Akamaru. If he was hurt, I'd really give it to Shino, bugs or no bugs. What I saw was almost as bad.

It seemed Shino had trusted Akamaru enough to release whatever hold he'd had on him and the puppy looked perfectly fine… and perfectly smug. "Ne, Akamaru! Help me out here!"

Shino shot me another of those sharp looks I hated so much, but it served the purpose of shutting me up long enough to hear what he had to say. "Whoever cast that genjutsu is still nearby. So long as the enemy assumes you are still under the effect of the genjutsu, he will not concern himself with you. That is our advantage."

Why the hell did he have to make so much sense?

"All right, bugfreak. Whatever you say." I didn't like it one bit, but it was a better plan than I had. Not to mention, Shino knew more about what was going on than I did. No matter how much I hated him, I had to trust him. He was pretty damn smart, from what I'd heard.

While Shino went about doing whatever pointless crap he did, I was scanning the surrounding area as best I could without being able to turn my head behind me. But eyesight didn't matter right now anyway. Not when I could smell the bastard already, a distinct human scent that wasn't one of us. Plus, it was further off in the heavy underbrush to my left. But hell if I'd tell Shino what I noticed and let him have all the glory.

I kept my voice low so Shino wouldn't hear. "Ne, Hinata. Look over in those bushes there to the east. Not to obviously though." I had yet to even glance that way other than in a passing sweep of the area. No point in letting on what I suspected.

"Kiba-kun?" Hinata seemed surprised at the request but obliged, only giving me a bit of a startled glance at first. "I don't see… oh…"

"What is it?" I'd been right. That made me pretty damn happy.

"I don't know. I can't tell exactly, but there's something strange there. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the trees."

"I've already investigated." Shino had closed the distance between us again without my notice. More than anything else, that pissed me off. "There is a strong source of chakra located in the vicinity. The genjutsu is more sophisticated than what trapped you, however. I cannot see through it." For a moment, he seemed reluctant to speak. After hearing what he had to say, I knew why. "Your nose will be of more use."

I felt the hold on my limbs loosen, though the bugs didn't move away. This left me free to move at any time and I couldn't help but grin just a little. "Watch my back, bugfreak. I'm not waiting any longer."

It looked for a moment as if Shino wanted to protest, but I didn't give him the chance. If this attack didn't come as a total surprise, it was going to fail and then where would that leave us? So to hell with what Shino thought!

I launched into an immediate tsuuga, but just as I would have struck the target, what they told me later looked like nothing more than another tree, the tree melted away. I took out half the forest beyond it before I could stop myself. So much for a surprise attack.

I was prepared to launch myself at the source of the scent again when once again those damn bugs pinned me down. "Oi, Shino! What the hell is wrong with you! He's right-"

That was the first time I saw Kurenai-sensei. Turned out it was all some stupid test.

Stupid tests really piss me off.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't long after that that I started to realize that maybe Shino was pretty smart. He was still pretty annoying and he still talked funny but, really, he was smart. After a while I even started to listen to him, to take orders… because he was always right. I didn't really mind, either, cause listening to Shino made us all look good in the end.

Still, this newfound respect didn't stop me one bit from picking on him. Smart or no, he needed to lighten up. That was why I started my brilliant schemes to steal Aburame Shino's glasses.

It started off with a series of innocent questions here and there when we trained. "Why do you wear those glasses?" "Why don't you ever take them off?" "Do you even have eyeballs under there?" He never answered, just glared, though the only way I could tell was because his eyebrows would crease at such a sharp angle.

It was kinda cute.

So that was why one day when we were settling down for a quick lunch during training, I saw my chance to find out the answer to all those burning questions. I was sitting just beside him gnawing on a stick of beef jerky and watching him out of the corner of my eye. He didn't seem to be clued in to my intentions, otherwise he likely would have been watching for me. Instead, he was focusing more on his own lunch, looking as ready as ever to ignore the rest of us and eat in silence.

I hated eating lunch with my team. Nobody talked!

But, at least, there would be some noise that day! I reached over as if I were going for my bottle of water which I had conveniently placed between us, but rather than snagging that, I managed to snatch a pair of glasses instead.

Triumphant, I turned fully towards him to see exactly what he was hiding under there.

Apparently, he was hiding a very furious glare cast at me through a pair of sharp eyes. They weren't the kind of eyes you'd ever think to call pretty, or even nice, but they suited him well. It added a bit of definition to his face. Made him seem less creepy and more intelligent. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but I liked his eyes a lot.

It was the rest of him I couldn't stand.

"Idiot." I guess I hadn't really been paying much attention to anything else until he spat that word at me and made a grab for his glasses. Shocked as I was, I didn't protest until it was too late and he was already gathering his food so he could move away from me. I'd fucked up again.

"Intruding on someone's personal space is not something that friends do. That is called rudeness."

There he went with the funny talk again. At least it did its part to snap me out of whatever fog my brain was still in. "Oi, Shino… I just wanted to see."

"Then you are satisfied and it will not happen again."

Well, Shino wasn't always right about everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Not long after that, I got into the habit of invading his personal space on a more regular basis. The first time was after he'd agreed to joining me and Akamaru for our morning walk. For his sake, I toned it down a little, actually walking with him for a while before Akamaru and I took to raising hell through the trees. To Shino's credit, he didn't leave while Akamaru and I were getting our exercise. He just watched us with those creased brows that always seemed to express his severe distaste for me and my noise.

Still, how could I be expected to start the day without a little adrenaline? So maybe I got a little carried away with the whooping and yelling. Maybe I shouldn't have gone so fast.

Maybe I shouldn't have latched onto him from behind like an overeager pup.

I felt him grow tense against me, but he didn't punch me like I half expected as I half dangled from his shoulders. Instead, he was perfectly, utterly silent for a few painfully tense seconds before he spoke in that tone of his, absolutely devoid of emotion. "Get off."

I didn't hesitate to do as I was told. Even I felt like I'd been a little too bold. It wasn't like we were really good friends or anything. It was natural for me to pounce like that on Ma or on Hana, but Shino wasn't exactly a member of my family. Hell, Shino didn't really like to be touched that much in the first place!

I really was an idiot!

"Oi, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinkin' about it and I just… Ne, Shino, you're not mad, are you?" If he wasn't mad, he sure would have been if I'd told him I kinda liked holding on to him like that.

He was silent for a long time, but when he finally spoke it shocked the hell out of me that he didn't sound as angry as I had expected. "If it never happens again, I can forgive this single mistake."

How damn kind of him.

He was wrong, though, to think this would be an isolated incident. Having not been smacked down harshly the first time, I tried it again a few days later… and again a few days after that. Eventually, it got to the point where he was resigned to let me dangle all I wanted and I was more than happy with that result. Maybe I was finally beginning to break down that shell of his!

It was something else all together when he finally started talking to me. It was obvious that most of the time he thought my replies were a little on the dumb side, or that maybe I was too slow to grasp things, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. So maybe I thought he was boring and that he liked to talk about weird things that only quiet guys tended to notice. Somehow it never got boring. I always looked forward to having chats with him when we took Akamaru for his walks.

It was when I figured we'd become good enough friends that I thought I'd brave the subject of those damn glasses again. I'd done a little sniffing around town, asking here and there in an attempt to find some clue, but it sure seemed like everyone in town was as clueless about the Aburame clan as I was. I didn't like it. We were teammates, right? Shouldn't teammates know a little about each other?

He already knew more than enough about me, due mostly to my tendency to ramble on and on. Eventually I'd wind down, figuring I was boring him. After all, how interesting could stories about my problematic family life be? The story about the stink bugs in my mom's room got old pretty fast.

We'd been walking in silence for much of the morning, as we tended to do sometimes. He liked the quiet and I didn't mind letting him have a bit of it every now and then. That was what friends did, right? They did what the other wanted sometimes. Of course, walking in silence gave me far too much time to think. That could be a dangerous thing for me, sometimes. Too much thought got me into too much trouble.

"Ne, Shino." I paused, just in case he was irritated that the silence had been disturbed. Ok, so maybe I wouldn't have stopped if he'd told me to shut up, but it was nice to know, at least, that he didn't mind my talking so much. Of course, that was all before I went prying in things that were none of my business. "You ever take them off? The glasses?"

His brows creased as they always did, and he replied with his usual curt tone. "Of course I do. It can become uncomfortable to wear them while asleep."

So that was it? He wore them everywhere but in bed? How stupid! I didn't hesitate to tell him so, either. "You gotta take em off sometime! It's not like you're ugly back there or anything." I made a grab for them, but he was prepared and caught my wrist with little effort.

"Fine, fine! You don't gotta take em off!" He leveled me with that too stern gaze of his for another moment before finally releasing my wrist, obviously assuming I had given up.

I even perpetuated that false sense of security by walking along again at his side, pouting just a little like I always do when I don't get my way. Though I have been known to use the occasional pout to my advantage. Ma was immune to the trick, but Shino was a perfect target.

He wasn't expecting the second attack. Can't blame him for it, though. I don't think anyone would have expected me to go to the lengths I did to get those glasses off. I started off by latching to him from the side, arms flung firmly around his shoulders so he couldn't lift his own arms to block me as I went for the snatch. It was pretty easy. A little too easy. I think he was already fed up with me and just let me do it. Pissed off Shino or not, though, it was worth the effort.

I know I already said he had great eyes, but it kinda took me by surprise again just how intense they were, especially this time when he wasn't glaring. Instead, his face held an expression of resignation. That made me grin even more than the minor victory I'd earned by snatching them in the first place. I didn't even notice right away that I was still latched onto him like a giant leach.

He noticed, though, and expressed it with a faint sigh. "Kiba."

If he'd been prepared to scold me again, he didn't go through with it, which I was very glad for. I didn't want anything to distract me from my rapt attention on those eyes. Eventually, though, thoughts did intrude and I was left wondering just what I was doing. I must have looked like a real idiot this time, staring at Shino like he had snot on his nose. Even more strange was the fact that he hadn't once tried to push me away. That could mean one of two things:

He had given up on ever getting rid of me. Or,

He didn't want to get rid of me.

My ego being what it was, I naturally thought it was B. That was probably the only reason I was bold enough to do what I did next.

I snagged the high collar of his jacket and despite the faint noise of protest he made, gave it a firm tug, pinning it down with my hand. It was the first time I'd ever gotten a real look at his face. I must have smiled like an idiot, but I didn't care. It was another victory… and he hadn't shooed me away yet. Even after I'd completely unmasked him.

It was only natural to go a step further, wasn't it? I used that thought later to justify what I did, but deep down I knew damn well I'd been too bold right from the start. If I'd really been paying attention I would have noticed just how damn uncomfortable he was. I would have noticed the tension in his shoulders and the way he shifted his head back just a little in an attempt to put some distance between us. But I was a selfish brat, then, and I didn't notice a damn bit of it.

All I noticed was how nice his lips looked when he scowled at me like that.

Wasn't it only natural to steal just a little kiss? Just one…. Just one, quick, fleeting kiss. Just to see if he'd let me.

I hoped so much that he'd let me.

For a moment, it seemed almost like he would, but I think he was in momentary shock. I can't really blame him for that. I was shocked, too. Shocked and overwhelmed. I'd never kissed anybody before and if anyone had ever told me my first kiss would be with some stoic bugfreak, I would have laughed. Especially to think I had initiated it.

I had hardly begun to enjoy the kiss when I felt a pair of strong hands on my shoulders. My heart leapt into my throat. Was he actually going to reciprocate? Did he actually like it? I was still wondering when he gave me that firm shove, sending me stumbling back a few steps.

That was enough to break whatever spell I'd been under and bring me back to reality. Shino was glaring at me, his eyes dark and intense as ever, and despite the cold shiver of fear that had suddenly raced up my spine, I couldn't help but stare like an idiot… like always. What the hell was wrong with me?

He didn't say anything, only held out his hand and I complied, returning his glasses without a second thought. Maybe I was still in a bit of shock. It really never fully registered what I had done until hours later and I still only remember the actual moment in a kind of dark haze, almost as if it had never happened. Hell, I only knew it did happen because Shino kept such a distance from me for the rest of the day.

He had retreated immediately, though it never looked like a retreat. Shino never rushed anything, even if deep down he wanted to get the hell away from me. It wasn't in him to be so crude in anything. And despite how stupid I felt watching him walk away, I still had to admire that about him. He was so strong.

I could never be like that.

Of course, later we had to show up for training and pretend nothing had happened, which was pretty damn simple for a guy like him. On the other hand, I suck at hiding anything. I did well enough as usual, but my heart wasn't in it. I liked to think he noticed, but he never said anything about it. Maybe he didn't really pay as much attention to me as I did to him. It was probably just selfish of me to think that he thought about me. Shino had better things to think about. That's what made him a better ninja.

After that day, I decided it was probably a good idea to back off. I didn't see Shino for our morning walks, but then I didn't expect to. Still, even if I hadn't expected him, I was painfully disappointed. It wasn't the same without Shino there to scowl at me when I acted like an idiot. It made acting like an idiot a lot less fun when there was no one to be annoyed by it. So poor Akamaru had to tolerate me moping around instead of actually giving him any decent exercise.

I guess Akamaru must have been pretty happy when Shino showed up again a few days later.

On the other hand, I wasn't happy at all. I didn't trust his reasons for showing up entirely yet, especially given the awkward silence we'd maintained for the past few days of training. So why now did he show up?

It wasn't in me to show my suspicion though, especially because the last thing I wanted was to frighten him away. So instead I simply greeted him like I always did, acting as if nothing at all were out of the ordinary. Shino seemed to agree to the game and so we went along on our walk like we had so many other mornings. I wasn't a very good actor, though, and it wasn't long before I was fidgeting as we walked, stealing glances at him every now and then. But Shino never once even looked my way.

I know he wasn't doing it on purpose, but he was driving me absolutely insane. I went along in silence for as long as I could, but eventually all the words I was holding back boiled up to the surface and came out in a flurry of noise.

"Oi, Shino, you just gonna walk there and not even say anything to me? We not talking anymore, but we're gonna pretend everything's fine? Say something, would you?" He didn't respond. Hell, he didn't even look like he'd heard me.

"Oi! Say something, bugfreak! Did you like it or not?"

Still, Shino didn't respond. He simply drew to a stop, gaze still fixed ahead on the path. I stopped a few steps beyond him, turning to face him. What was he thinking? If I'd been brave enough, I would have snatched those stupid shades away so I could see his eyes, but I wasn't quite in the mood to die that day. Not yet, anyway.

"Say something, damnit!"

I don't think he had expected me to become quite so hostile, but he seemed to have underestimated my propensity for overreacting. I'm not sure what exactly prompted him to answer me, though I'm pretty sure he was just trying to get me to shut up. That always seemed to be the purpose of his actions. "What is it you would like me to say?"

Damn that evasive bastard. Though I tried to stop it, my lips curled into a snarl and I nearly told him to get lost. But then that wouldn't get me any answers. Somewhere behind my temper, I recognized the fact that he was being evasive, and I wasn't going to let him get away with hiding behind those glasses anymore.

"I want you to say, 'Yeah, Kiba, I liked it!' But I'd settle for a damn, 'I hated it, keep your damn hands off me!'" Stupid bugfreak.

His brows creased at that and for whatever reason it made me furious. He was going to glare at me for that and keep hiding behind those damn glasses. I hated those glasses. Even if I could read him well enough from behind them, I wanted nothing more than to let Akamaru play fetch with them. It was only then, after indulging myself in a few minor fantasies about his glasses covered in puppy slobber, that I noticed he still wasn't responding.

That broke me. I finally lost what little temper I had left. I made a grab for his glasses, but was stopped as quickly as ever by his hand, which caught my wrist in a bruising grip. Oh, so he was pissed off, too? Good!

I made another grab at him, but this time I went for the collar, a move which he didn't expect, and while he managed to catch my wrist in an equally painful grip, I had also managed to catch his collar, which I held on to for dear life, pulling it down as much as I could manage.

It was hard to tell, because collar or no collar, Shino was always equally unexpressive. Still, I'm pretty sure he was furious with me. Good. It gave me all the more desire to wipe that look off his face and force an answer out of him. That was the reason I used my grip on his jacket as a basis to pull myself closer and give him a real kiss. Not that same stupid peck.

I didn't really know what a real kiss was then, though. I'd seen people do it before. I'd seen some guy kiss Hana once and, as odd as it sounds, that was the image I conjured up as guidance. Some guy whose name I didn't even know who was trying to make out with my sister.

It didn't help that she'd smacked the shit out of him when he was done.

It also didn't help that Shino was, once again, painfully unresponsive. In fact, he was so unresponsive that he didn't even bother to push me away this time. In fact, his grip on my wrists loosened. Maybe he was giving up…

I growled a little when I drew back, glaring daggers at those damn glasses that only reflected my own anger back at me. "When someone kisses you, you're supposed to kiss back. Those are the rules!"

His brows narrowed again when I mocked him like that and for the first and only time ever, Shino replied to my taunting with what might have been the barest hint of anger. "It is my understanding that a kiss is something shared out of mutual interest, not forced upon another party." He paused, but not for enough of a span to earn an angry reply from me. "But you have always forced everything. I suppose I should be grateful you did not kill us in the process."

There have only been a few times in my life that I've been really shocked by something. I don't mean just surprised, but really truly shocked beyond reasonable thought. This was the most shocking of all of those moments… more than all the rest combined. But really who could blame me for never thinking in my wildest dreams that Aburame Shino would ever kiss me? Ever.

This time I was the one who didn't respond. I had been successfully shocked silent, a fact that probably pleased him very much. In fact, it had probably been half the reason for the kiss. It didn't last, though. It struck me when Shino finally drew back that he was probably less knowledgeable about this kind of thing than I was. It wasn't like he had a sister to spy on. Even if he'd had a sister, she probably wouldn't be the type to kiss anyway. That was the first time I realized that I had an upper hand over Shino.

"I thought the rules stated that one was supposed to return a kiss when it was given."

Normally that might have pissed me off, but this time it managed to push away every bit of tension that had been building in me since that ridiculous walk began. Shino looked surprised as hell when I only responded by laughing rather loudly and latching firmly to his shoulders. "Hai, hai! Those are the rules!" And for once, I was more than happy to follow them.

Finally, after what had seemed like a million foiled attempts, Shino and I managed to succeed in our first real kiss, the first one we really shared. It was clumsy and awkward and in every way both ridiculous and wonderful. I forgot in that moment that Shino drove me insane half the time or that he made me look bad all the time. I forgot that bugs still made me squirm and that I still had to work really hard not to crush them on sight. Mostly, though, I forgot exactly where I was and what I'd been doing and when we finally stepped apart, I wasn't sure what time it was or how long we'd been entwined like that. All I knew was that my cheeks were pleasantly flushed and I felt warm all over. It was an overwhelming feeling of contentment and pleasure that I wouldn't soon forget.

Neither of us said anything, but after sharing something so intimate, it wasn't necessary. He wasn't glaring at me anymore. His expression was passive, more content than I'd ever seen it before. I didn't need to ask if he'd liked it. Nor did I need to tell him I had liked it. In fact, we didn't say much of anything. We agreed in mutual silence to continue along the forest road. We watched Akamaru dart on ahead, bouncing his way in and out of the bushes. After that morning, Shino never neglected to meet me for a morning walk again.


End file.
